The Monzo Premium metal card is made of a single 16g sheet of steel with the owner’s details on the back for the sake of minimalism. Meanwhile, the service offers insurance for phones up to £2,000 – protecting them against theft, loss, and accidental damage – and accessories under £300. And the worldwide family travel insurance covers medical bills up to £10m, lost valuables up to £750, and cancellation costs up to £5,000.

Away from the fancy card and the insurance, the premium offering enables Monzo customers to earn interest up to £2,000 on their balance and regular pots and allows people to get £600 of fee-free cash every 30 days when abroad.

There’s also discounted airport lounge access, the ability to add and view other bank accounts, a way to track your credit score, exclusive offers from brands, and more.

Monzo Premium is available for people aged from 18 to 69 for £15 a month, with a six-month minimum term.

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Monzo customers will be able to link their account with Flux to have digital receipts, rewards, and loyalty points delivered in real-time when they spend at Costa, Eat, Itsu, Pod, and Pure using their Monzo card.

“At Monzo, our goal is to give people more visibility and control over their money. And partnering with Flux helps us do that,” said Tom Blomfield, CEO and co-founder of Monzo. “Now, when Monzo customers shop at popular retailers, they’ll be able to see a total view of their transactions and earn rewards when they spend, without having to keep track of paper receipts and loyalty cards.”

For now, Flux is focusing on building receipt infrastructure, but it aims to use its platform for receipt data to provide consumers with more enriched experiences, such as card-linked loyalty. Furthermore, it intends to create an industry standard platform this year.

“Flux’s mission is to liberate the world’s receipt data in order to enrich trillions of experiences globally,” said Matty Cusden-Ross, CEO and founder of Flux. “Today we’re excited to be expanding our partnership with Monzo to bring automated receipts and rewards to even more people. Monzo shares our vision of the future and, as Flux continues to scale across bigger and bigger merchants, we can’t wait to make Flux available everywhere”

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The startup has setup a small team to begin working on the US version of its platform, according to TechCrunch, citing sources. Initially, while the firm works to gain the necessary regulatory licenses from authorities, the Monzo app will be powered by a US banking partner.

Monzo’s plans will see it create a ‘lite’ version of its product for US customers – similar to how it first launched in the UK with a pre-paid debit card before finally gaining the greenlight from UK regulators to begin offering actual banking services. This is aimed at creating a US customer base alongside its regulatory applications, making it easier to get people to convert to using its current accounts, if given the nod.

“We’re really excited about international expansion over the coming months and years. After all, it’s hard to build a bank for a billion people in the UK alone,” a Monzo spokesperson told TechCrunch. “However, we don’t have anything specific to share at this stage about those plans. When we do, we’ll be sure to tell the world.”

Monzo’s potential arrival follows N26’s announcement of its intentions to enter the US market in Q1 of this year. The Berlin-based mobile-first bank began offering his services to UK customers in October 2018.

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The London-based app-only bank‘s Series E funding round was led by US venture capital firms General Catalyst and Accel. The were joined by existing investors in the shape of Passion Capital, Goodwater, Thrive Capital, Orange Digital Ventures, and Stripe.

Monzo, founded in 2015, now boasts over 1.1m customers and has seen almost 95 per cent of its users upgrade to full Monzo current accounts since the beginning of the year. The challenger bank has a history of opening up its fundraising drives to its community and plans to launch a crowdfund as part of this round. In 2016, it raised £1m in just 96 seconds through crowdfunding and, in March 2017, it closed a crowdfunding round of more than £12m – despite only hoping for £2.5m.

Fellow UK fintech firm Revolut achieved unicorn status earlier this year when it raised $250m (£179m at the time) at a valuation of $1.7bn.

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The financial app has made its accounts available to people aged 16 and 17 and they are exactly the same accounts as those over 18 get.

The youngsters will be able to open a full UK current account with an account number and sort code, giving them the ability to send and receive money by bank transfer, and set up Direct Debits and standing orders; get a contactless card; use the full Monzo app; and be able to link their Apple Pay and Google Pay accounts.

The one difference between the under 18 accounts and the main adult accounts is that 16 and 17-year olds won’t be offered overdrafts, as such they won’t be charged extra for going overdrawn.

In order to open an account, 16 and 17-year olds will need a phone and photo ID, as well as needing to record a short video of themselves to clarify they are who they say they are.

Once a user turns 18, Monzo will automatically take away the spending blocks that apply to their account and the firm will review spending and withdrawal limits to make sure they’re right for the user.

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International money transfers will be introduced to the ‘Payments’ tab in the Monzo app, giving users the opportunity to make overseas payments to sixteen of the most popular foreign currencies, with more to be added in the future.

Currencies supported initially include the Euro, US dollar, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar, Indian rupee, Nigerian Naira, and Polish zloty, to name a few. Any time a payment is made overseas, TransferWise will charge a small fee – which is split with Monzo.

A TransferWise account is not required to use the service but users with an account can login to keep everything from both their TransferWise and Monzo accounts in one place.

The feature has arrived for some users today and will gradually roll out to the rest over the next few weeks. Customers that haven’t seen the ‘international’ option pop up when they tap ‘bank transfer’ yet can message the Monzo team through the in-app chat and ask for access now, rather than later.

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Monzo celebrates £71m investment round after rollercoaster year
Mobile-first banking platform Monzo has grown its customer base from 100,000 people to almost half a million this year and, having gained a full banking licence, started to roll out full current accounts to customers too. To support this growth, the firm has just closed a fundraising round with £71m of new investment.

The funding round was led by Goodwater Capital, Stripe and Michael Moritz, through his charitable investment vehicles including the Crankstart Foundation, with follow-on investments by existing supporters including Passion Capital, Thrive Capital and Orange Digital Ventures.

“This is an incredible endorsement of our strategy so far, and were so excited about the opportunities this investment unlocks,” said a spokesperson for Monzo in a statement. “Ultimately, this means we can continue the growth weve seen so far into 2018 and build on our mission to bring Monzo to as many people as possible, in the UK and beyond!”

Monzo has partially financed itself through crowdfunding, and to ensure that crowd investors can remain part of the process, the firm has set aside £1.5m of funding to enable existing investors to increase their stake. The company has also begun work on a new crowdfunding campaign which will run in 2018 and allow new consumers to invest in the digital bank.

Fintech startup TransferWise closes $280m round led by IVP and Old Mutual
One of the UKs star fintech startups has closed a huge new funding round as it prepares to expand further into Asia, with Silicon Valley venture firm IVP and Old Mutual Global Investors leading the Series E financing. The new investment brings TransferWises total funding to $397m, with the companys new value reportedly placed at $1.6bn.

Earlier this year, the company opened a new dedicated hub for its APAC operations, and the new funding will be used to strengthen its position there, as well as develop the firms Borderless accounts, designed for enterprise users who conduct business in multiple currencies.

“Our team looks to invest in companies with the potential to significantly disrupt an industry,” said Richard Watts, manager of UK mid cap fund at Old Mutual. “The opportunity to invest now in a private company with a hugely exciting global growth story is particularly compelling and we believe this holding will benefit investors in the funds we manage.”

Proofpoint acquires Cloudmark for $110m to strengthen security offering
Cybersecurity firm Proofpoint has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire messaging security and threat intelligence company Cloudmark for $110m (£83.6m), with the deal set to close by the end of the year following regulatory approval. The deal will strengthen Proofpooints offering for ISPs and mobile carriers, providing them with additional tools to counter malware campaigns and targeted attacks.

Among the new capabilities that Cloudmarks Global Threat Network data will provide are messaging threat telemetry from billions of daily emails, threat intelligence around malicious domains and visibility into fraudulent and malicious SMS messages directed to mobile carriers worldwide.

“We are excited to welcome Cloudmarks ISP and mobile carrier customers to Proofpoint,” said Gary Steele, CEO of Proofpoint. “By combining the threat intelligence from Cloudmark with the Proofpoint Nexus platform, we can better protect all of our customers – both enterprises and ISPs – from todays rapidly evolving threats.”

Klook prepares to go global after Series C financing brings in $60m
As Asias largest in-destination services booking platform, Klook has built a network of over 30,000 popular attractions, local experiences and services covering more than 120 destinations worldwide, all accessible through its app. Now the Hong Kong company is hoping to expand its reach to more global customers using its latest round of funding.

The Series C round brought in just under $60m from Sequoia China, Goldman Sachs and existing investor Matrix Partners, along with participation from various Asia-based family funds through global VC fund OurCrowd. The investment will be used to finance global expansion, as well as accelerate product growth and innovation.

“Klooks mission is to empower every person to travel independently, with all in-destination needs taken care of, for the ultimate hassle-free experience and more time to enjoy the trip,” said Ethan Lin, co-founder of Klook. “This round of funding gives us additional resources to further strengthen our leading position in Asia while accelerating expansion into new markets and verticals.”

UK startup Mojiworks raises £2.1m to build games on Messenger
Facebook have been sinking more and more money into Messenger as time goes on, and expanding the platforms capabilities as they go. Now Mojiworks, a UK-based startup, has raised £2.1m in Series A funding to help it build games based in the over-the-top message platform.

The funding comes a year into Mojiworks life as a company, and as it prepares to launch QuestFriends, a cooperative multiplayer game that will arrive on Facebook Instant Games before the end of the year. The investment, led by Balderton Capital, with participation by Lifeline Ventures and Sunstone Capital, will be used to launch multiple new game projects and expand the team from 10 to 25 staff over the next year.

“Since starting Mojiworks just twelve months ago, weve built a great core team and several proof-of-concept projects the excelled our goals many times over,” said Matthew Wiggins, founder and CEO of Mojiworks. “It has confirmed our belief that messaging will be the next huge games opportunity. This investment will help drive our growth from pioneers in an emerging space to a leading force on the next platform where billions of people will play together.”

Join us at the 2017 Effective Mobile Marketing Awards Ceremony, taking place in London on Thursday 16 November, to mix with the industrys best and brightest, and raise a glass to the years best campaigns and solutions. To find out more, and to book your place, click here.

The post Investment Round: Monzo, TransferWise, Proofpoint, Klook appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

With that in mind, our Peoples Choice categories let the mobile marketing industry vote for a winner from our shortlist of deserving nominees. Voting has already begun, but this week, well be shining a spotlight on each of the different Peoples Choice categories to give you more information before you make your decision.

Once youre ready to vote, head to our survey to pick your winners before midnight UK time on Friday 29 September. The Peoples Choice winners will be announced alongside the rest of our Awards at our lavish ceremony on Thursday 16 November. You can book your place at this annual highlight here.

Brand of the Year

Amazon – Few can deny the impact that Amazon has had on the digital landscape this year. With the retail giant bringing in $91.4bn (£69bn) in revenues from its core retail business alone in 2016, it continued to go from strength to strength in 2017. The Amazon Echo and its Alexa virtual assistant proved the brand to beat in this exciting new space, while its purchase of Whole Foods made even the largest traditional retailers worry about the disruptive power it could bring to the grocery sector. Add in its growing Web Services business and you have a true digital titan.

Disney – The House That Walt Built has always been a leader when it comes to technology, and this year proved to be no exception, as Disney continued to embrace mobile in all its forms. From partnerships with platforms like Snapchat, Uber and Google Home to innovative campaigns that make use of interactive video and virtual reality, Disney has led the way when it comes to a mobile-first approach to marketing, and with plans to launch its own streaming services in the new year that will compete with rivals like Netflix and Amazon, it’s just beginning to flex its muscles.

Monzo – Since its launch in 2015, Monzo has been the poster child for the new wave of fintech disruption, challenging old assumptions about what a bank has to be. This year, the mobile-first platform officially became a fully authorised digital bank, opening the window to a much wider range of financial products, and celebrated reaching both 100,000 and 200,000 customers within the space of just three and a half months, demonstrating an astonishing speed of growth and a huge demand for its app-focused money management.

N26 – Founded in 2013, N26 was one of the pioneers of the mobile banking movement, and has spread across Europe at astonishing speed, with a presence in 17 countries now and over 500,000 customers. In 2017 alone, it added around 1,500 new accounts every day, while increasing total card transactions by 176 per cent year on year. The firm also launched a wide range of new products this year, including business accounts, savings and even insurance, becoming a true mobile hub for financial services with over $55m under its management.

Pizza Hut – Mobile and convenience have always gone hand-in-hand, so it’s no surprise that a brand like Pizza Hut has leapt into the mobile world from the beginning, constantly working to improve its app and mobile web channels while also producing innovative marketing that seamlessly integrates the latest tech. This year, the firm has collaborated with Amazon to deliver flexible ordering via the Alexa digital assistant, launched a new pizza tracker that provides customers with text alerts, and even debuted a line of promotional connected shoes that could order pizza at the touch of a button.

Sony – As a global technology brand, it’s only natural that Sony’s marketing would incorporate the latest cutting-edge developments. As well as facilitating the rise of VR this year with over 1m Playstation VR headsets sold, the brand launched creative digital campaigns featuring virtual reality, AR, vertical video and even a digital treasure hunt that drove people to real world locations in search of mobile rewards. Add in growing investment in its ‘mixed reality’ Hololens device which is being targeted at business users, and Sony continues to innovate and excel.

Dont forget to cast your vote in all our Peoples Choice categories here before midnight UK time on Friday 29 September, and good luck to all our nominees.

The post Peoples Choice Spotlight: Brand of the Year appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

The decision means that Monzo’s initial aim of ‘building a current account that lives on your smartphone and gives you control of your money’ can now become a reality. However, Monzo says it will be introduce current accounts ‘quite slowly’ to avoid any problems.

“We’re currently running live bank accounts with a small group of users, and we’ll slowly be expanding that group over the coming months to put our banking system through its paces and ensure everything works as expected,” said Tom Blomfield, Monzo CEO, in a blog post. “As we get used to running current accounts day-to-day, we’ll look to offer accounts to larger numbers of people over the summer, including groups like our recent investors and pre-registrants from the crowdfunding.”

Prior to the lifting of restrictions by the FCA and PRA, users had to have an external bank account connected to Monzo’s app to gain use of its prepaid card and other features.

The post App-only bank Monzo is now, well, officially a bank appeared first on Mobile Marketing Magazine.

The issue, which has now been resolved, was said to have affected card payments, topups, and sending money – but each startup assured their users that all money was safe.

“One of our suppliers needs to run an unexpected, large migration and we are waiting for further information. We dont have a firm estimate when this will be completed and suggest everyone uses another card today,” said Monzo during the glitch.

“Were so sorry for any inconvenience this causes you. Your money is safe and this is only a temporary issue. We will be conducting a full review of how and why this happened and what can be done, by both us and the supplier, to ensure this does not happen again.”

The payments processor in question is, as reported by Business Insider, Global Processing Services (GPS). GPS is a Dubai-based company that acts as a middle man between the startups and the Mastercard network.

“We’ve just finished a 12-month project to connect our systems directly to MasterCard,” said Oliver Beattie, head of engineering at Monzo, in a blog post. “When we launch the current account later this year, it will not use a third-party card processor and instead transactions will be processed entirely on our own technology. We see ourselves as a technology company as much as a bank, and going forward our strategy is to bring all critical systems in-house and continue to develop our own platform atop modern technology which we control.”

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